School district cutting budget to offset deficit
Miller Creek School District officials will eliminate transitional kindergarten and tighten the budget on other programs to offset projected deficit spending in the 202021 school year.
Some district parents said this week they are opposed to dropping transitional kindergarten. Armen Filian called the decision process “rushed, irresponsible and arguably deceptive” in a letter to trustees this week.
But district officials said the move was necessary because of the fiscal uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Given the unprecedented shutdown of economic activity during the state's COVID-19 crisis, we are anticipating a significant impact to the state's ability to fund the governor's proposed budget for schools for 2020-21,” Becky Rosales, the interim district superintendent, said in a letter to the school community.
“In an ideal world, there would not be any cuts to our truly exceptional programs, but under the current fiscal reality, difficult decisions were made in order to retain fiscal solvency.”
Also, the district has adopted new grading policies for the rest of the school year to account for varying degrees of difficulties with remote learning during the virus pandemic.
At a special board meeting Wednesday, trustees voted 4-0, with trustee Mark Schott leaving before the vote, to remove letter grades from report cards for grades from transitional kindergarten through fifth. Instead, teachers will add comments for each student.
For grades six though eight, all students who participate in remote learning will receive report cards with an “A” letter grade, plus teacher comments. If students do not participate at all or are unable to engage in remote learning, they will receive a “pass” grade, plus teacher comments.
“Our extensive research, guidance from the California Department of Education, as well as conversations with members within and beyond our community, have influenced these guidelines,” said Kristy Treewater, assistant superintendent. “In the absence of a perfect solution, these guidelines will allow students to remain engaged, while reducing stress and provide feedback to families.”
On the budget problems, Rosales said the cuts for 2020-21 will save $700,000 over three programs.
The elimination of transitional kindergarten will save $420,000. The district has TK classes at Lucas Valley, Mary Silveira and Vallecito elementary schools.
Transitional kindergarten is a program for 4-yearolds born between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1 who will not be turning 5 by the Sept. 1 cutoff date for kindergarten. Other Marin school districts have already dropped the program over budget constraints.
Rosales said this week that the TK teachers would likely be reassigned to different positions that have been vacated because of retirements or resignations. The district did not previously announce any layoffs by the March 15 deadline to issue such warnings.
Filian said he and his family experienced “surprise and disappointment” when informed of the board’s decision earlier this month. He is asking the board to reconsider the move at its May 12 meeting.
“For the last two years, we have been looking forward to our daughter Siena entering the TK program in Vallecito,” Filian said in a letter to trustees and district administration this week. “We have many friends whose children went through TK and everyone says what an amazing experience their kids and they as parents have had.”
He said his daughter signed up for the class in January. In mid-February,
he gave up his daughter’s spot at her preschool because he told them she would be enrolling in transitional kindergarten in the fall. After hearing about the cancellation, however, he went back to the preschool, but they told him they are now full and have no openings, he said.
“The process with which this decision was made feels rushed, irresponsible and arguably deceptive,” Filian added. “This is a major decision that should have required at least a multiple step process including input by the taxpaying members of our district.”
Trustees also voted to restructure bus routes, schedules and availability,
for a savings of $150,000. The district has not determined whether there will be fewer routes or buses.
The third action was to restrict transfers into the district from other areas. This would save $130,000 by reducing the need for additional staff members to accommodate more students.
“Sharing this information is difficult, given the impact of these reductions and the profound uncertainty that currently surrounds us all,” Rosales said in her letter. “Although difficult, the actions taken by the board will reduce our deficit spending for the 2020-21 school year and support our longer-term fiscal solvency.”